Sundance Institute has announced the 10 fellows taking part in its inaugural Producers Intensive this month. The two-day program, which kicked off October 21, was designed as “a means of providing creative, strategic, and professional development support for emerging fiction and nonfiction producers from traditionally underrepresented communities.”
According to Deadline, in addition to a Sundance Collab self-guided curriculum and a legal workshop, the fellows — the majority of whom are women — will take part in interactive group sessions and roundtable conversations focusing on topics such as producer/director collaboration, pitching, legal and business affairs, packaging and financing, and budgeting.
Veteran producers Allison Rose Carter (“Zola”), Jennifer Dana (“The Assistant”), Mel Jones (“Burning Sands”), Ruchi Mital (“We Could Be King”), Kim Parker (“Catch the Fair One”), Kishori Rajan (“Random Acts of Flyness”), Anya Rous (“Pray Away”), MACRO’s Greta Fuentes, and Fathom’s Megan Gilbride serve as advisors alongside production counsel Nicole Compas.
Non-fiction projects to be developed during the intensive include “La Flaca,” an epic coming-of-age tale of assimilation in America from producer Alba Jaramillo, and Shannon Sun-Higginson’s “You Lucky You Got a Mamma,” described as “a love note to Black pregnant people from across the United States.” Among the fiction titles is “forward” from Lauren López de Victoria, a story of a Latinx teen’s exploration of identity and love in the shadows of gentrification and loss.
Details on the Producers Intensive fellows and their respective projects are below, courtesy of Deadline.
Non-fiction fellows:
Rachel Dickson
Let the Little Light Shine
A high-achieving elementary school just south of downtown Chicago is a lifeline for Black children—until gentrification threatens its closure. As Chicago Public Schools, the mayor, and politicians debate the future of the school, the film brings you inside to meet the students, parents, and educators fighting to save it.
Alba Jaramillo
La Flaca
A teenager’s flight from Honduras, through Central America suddenly snaps into focus when she gives birth on US soil — launching an epic coming-of-age tale of assimilation in America.
Rajeswari Ramanathan
The 1980 Civil Case
In April 1980, three Klansmen went on a shooting spree in Chattanooga, Tennessee, injuring five Black women. As usual, the criminal courts treated the Klansmen lightly. But the five women fought back in a new way with the support of civil rights attorney Randolph McLaughlin, who helped the women win an important victory against the Klan and set a legal precedent for today’s court battles on racial violence.
Chris Renteria
Chain of Rocks
A death row inmate confesses to a crime after 30 years of maintaining his innocence. Now, an activist who once fought for his exoneration is faced with the moral dilemma of whether the fight was in vain. Chain of Rocks is an animated feature-length documentary that explores the complexities of race and masculinity and how they skew our worldview and play a role in oppressive systems.
Shannon Sun-Higginson
You Lucky You Got a Mamma
Directed by nurse and activist Brittany Ferrell, You Lucky You Got A Mama is a love note to Black pregnant people from across the United States who differ in background, socioeconomic status, and gender identity, but all share one goal: they intend to not only survive, but thrive.
Fiction fellows:
Beverley Gordon
Experience
Set in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, a lonely, emotionally scarred African-American bus driver, estranged from her family and working through the grief of losing her sister, discovers a beautiful love doll on her bus, and begins a journey to find its owner and perhaps heal in the process.
Lauren López de Victoria
forward
After moving to the working class part of the Hamptons, a Latinx teen cleaning for the elite explores identity and love in the shadows of gentrification and inevitable loss.
Breanne Thomas
In the Jackpot
Strapped for cash working a dead-end job, Ash gets a fresh start trafficking marijuana from corporate growhouses in Colorado to the black market across state lines. But when Ryder, Ash’s loose cannon of a lover, scams $100,000 during a drop, they find themselves on the run.
Jesy Odio
Molokai’ Bound
Kainoa De Silva is on parole and committed to reconnecting with his family including, most importantly, his son Jonathan. But acclimating to the normal life in Hawai’i is harder than it seems and Kainoa tends to do all the wrong things for the right reasons.
Ashley Chrisman
The Homesick
While on vacation in Cape Coast, Ghana, a man’s plan to propose to his girlfriend gets derailed after his younger brother crashes their trip and drags them into a wager awakening the haunted past of one of West Africa’s oldest slave castles.
